Yan Chi urged his horse forward and asked, "Where are they?"
The soldier from the Garrison Battalion dared not be negligent and promptly replied, "At a very secluded residence in the Brocade Embroidery Workshop in the southern part of the city."
Hearing this, Yan Chi narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look at Zhao Yu beside him. "Shall we go take a look?"
Under normal circumstances, Zhao Yu would have immediately gone to see who had been burned to death, but now he hesitated and wavered. He had originally intended to take Yan Chi to see the people from the Yunzhou Zhao clan...
Zhao Yu pressed his lips tightly together. "What does Your Highness think?"
Yan Chi remained quite calm. "This matter is sudden. Didn't you say your side is still conducting interrogations? Why don't we first go see the fire scene and then visit those two afterward? By then, the interrogations should surely be concluded."
Zhao Yu hesitated for a moment before nodding somewhat gravely.
Yan Chi raised his lips and looked at the Garrison Battalion soldier. "Lead the way..."
At the command, the men quickly turned their horses around, and Yan Chi and Zhao Yu followed them toward the southern part of the city.
Though it was located in the Brocade Embroidery Workshop, the path they took was extremely remote. When they reached the mouth of the alley, they realized the place was indeed very secluded. Although surrounded by residential houses, it was close to a slum area, making it a place of mixed crowds during the day.
They dismounted and proceeded into the alley on foot.
As they walked, Yan Chi asked, "When did the fire start?"
"It broke out shortly after nightfall. Fortunately, it had snowed a few days ago, so the fire didn't spread to neighboring houses. Still, the courtyard was completely destroyed. The nearby residents and our patrolling comrades worked together to extinguish the flames, and it took a long time. Only after the fire was completely put out did we go in to search. That's when we found two people burned to death. At first, we thought it was just a tragic accident, but then we discovered items from the palace. Upon closer inspection, they were even linked to the Eastern Palace."
Zhao Yu, following behind, asked further, "Did you ask the neighbors how the fire started?"
The Garrison Battalion soldier replied, "We did. The neighbors said the courtyard had been empty before, and people only started living there two months ago. However, in recent days, the courtyard had been shut tight, so it was unclear who was residing there. The fire started quietly today, and none of the neighbors heard any cries for help."
No cries for help? Yan Chi raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes slightly.
They walked along a narrow, long alley before finally reaching the scene of the incident. It was already late at night, and the surrounding houses were pitch black. Only the fire site remained brightly lit, with Garrison Battalion soldiers having placed several torches in the courtyard. Two charred bodies lay on the ground, while the entire building had been burned beyond recognition. Amid the scorched, collapsed walls and ruins, the two bodies, rendered unrecognizable by the flames, appeared especially eerie and horrifying.
Although the bodies were burned beyond recognition, Yan Chi’s sharp eyes and his experience working on numerous cases with Qin Guan allowed him to discern at a glance that the two victims were women, not men. A sudden fire in such a courtyard, two women dead, items from the Eastern Palace—connecting all these clues, Yan Chi suddenly found it utterly perplexing.
"Where are the items from the Eastern Palace? How did you determine their origin?"
At Yan Chi’s question, the man immediately brought over the items recovered earlier from the fire scene.On a charred black felt rug lay several pieces of darkened jewelry and jade artifacts. One jade piece bore a clear "imperially commissioned" inscription at its base, and more strikingly, it was adorned with a five-clawed coiling dragon pattern—an unmistakable emblem of the Eastern Palace. Seeing this, both Yan Chi and Zhao Yu's expressions darkened.
Zhao Yu’s face grew particularly complex. "How could items from the Eastern Palace end up here? And these pieces are all exceptionally fine—it’s impossible that some palace maid fled and stole them, is it?"
Even if a maid dared to escape, she could never have smuggled out so many valuables.
That left only one plausible explanation!
The two individuals were most likely accompanying the Empress and the Crown Prince when they left the palace…
Zhao Yu’s eyes widened in shock—surely the deceased couldn’t be the Empress and the Crown Princess!
Yan Chi said grimly, "It seems we must summon the coroner from the prefectural office."
Zhao Yu nodded and glanced at someone behind him. That person’s expression shifted slightly before they turned and headed toward the alley entrance.
Watching the figure depart, Yan Chi added, "Send someone with these two jewelry pieces to the Loyal Marquis Manor as well. Ask if anyone there recognizes them."
Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow, and Yan Chi continued calmly, "The Crown Princess has also left the palace."
Understanding Yan Chi’s implication, Zhao Yu dispatched another guard. Several members of the Garrison Battalion exchanged uneasy glances, unsure what to do, but Yan Chi remained standing in deep thought. Zhong Yao had already been gone for nearly half an hour…
Zhao Yu stood beside Yan Chi, his complexion even paler, a faint sweat beading on his forehead.
He too seemed to be counting the minutes, repeatedly glancing up at the night sky. But there were no stars or moon tonight—only snow falling heavier and heavier.
"You’re anxious?" Yan Chi suddenly asked.
Zhao Yu started, then shook his head before nodding. "I’m afraid they won’t extract any information over there."
Yan Chi replied with detached calm, "No need to rush. Before dawn breaks, the truth will inevitably come to light."
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